Hung Shing Temple, Wan Chai

Hung Shing Temple, Wan Chai
Portal
Hung Shing Temple in Queen's Road East. The white building on the right houses a Kwun Yum temple, added in 1867. The first floor with a green window is a later addition.[1]

The Hung Shing Temple (Chinese: 洪聖古廟) in Wan Chai, Hong Kong is one of several temples dedicated to Hung Shing in the territory.

Location

The temple is located at Nos. 129-131 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai. Tai Wong Street West and Tai Wong Street East intersect with Queen's Road East across the street from the temple.[2] The two streets derive their name from the temple, as "Tai Wong" is an alternate name for Hung Shing.[3] The temple was originally built next to the shoreline, facing the sea,[1] but as the consequence of successive land reclamations, it is now surrounded by clusters of residential and commercial buildings.[4]

History

The temple was probably built in 1847 and may have existed previously as a shrine. Renovations were recorded to have been carried out in 1857, 1860, 1867, 1949 and 1992. An annex Kwun Yum temple was constructed to its left in 1867.[1]

Features

The temple was built with boulders from the hillside and its right portion and back are sitting on rocks. It is a simple one-hall building with a granite platform right in front of its façade. The roof of the platform is supported by elaborate granite columns and accessing staircases are built on either ends rather than in the middle facing the temple entrance. The ceramic decorations of Shiwan kiln on the roof date from 1909. Together with Hung Shing, other deities worshiped there include Madame Kam Fa (金花娘娘), Pau Kung and Shing Wong.[1]

Conservation

The management of the Temple has been delegated to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals[5] by the Chinese Temples Committee[2] since pre-war times.[3] It has been listed as a Grade I historic building[6] since 1987[1] and it is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail, established in 2009.[7]

Festivals

Worshippers of Hung Shing go to pray in the temple on the 1st and the 15th day of every lunar month and on the birthday of Kwun Yum, the Goddess of Mercy.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Historic Building appraisal : Tsang Tai Uk" (PDF). Lcsd.gov.hk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2012. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  2. 1 2 "Chinese Temples Committee". Ctc.org.hk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  3. 1 2 Archived October 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 "Hong Kong Fun in 18 Districts - Welcome to 18 Districts". Gohk.gov.hk. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  5. ↑ "TWGHs / Service Centres Information". Tungwah.org.hk. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  6. ↑ "List of Graded Historic buildings in Hong Kong" (PDF). Amo.gov.hk. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 9, 2011. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
  7. ↑ Archived May 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hung Shing Temple, Wan Chai.

Coordinates: 22°16′32″N 114°10′15″E / 22.275431°N 114.170831°E / 22.275431; 114.170831 (Hung Shing Temple, Wan Chai)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.